@FAO/Miguel Arreategui

10/06/2025

First in-person workshop of the Benefit-sharing Fund’s ‘Community of Practice’ lays groundwork for future collaboration & innovation

Cusco, Peru, 10 June 2025 – Participants from 14 different countries across Latin America and the Caribbean region gathered in Cusco, Peru, from 27 to 29 May 2025 for the first ‘Agrobiodiversity knowledge lab’ organized by the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and FAO Peru, in partnership with Peruvian National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA), the International Potato Center (CIP) and Oxfam.

The event included about 65 participants representing farmers’ organizations, Indigenous peoples, youth networks, National Focal Points to the International Treaty, research institutions and other agrobiodiversity innovators, particularly those involved in projects supported by the Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF).

“The Governing Body (of the International Treaty) has stressed the need to facilitate learning and exchange of knowledge, lessons and good practices between projects and with external actors,” said Álvaro Toledo, Deputy Secretary of the International Treaty. “Many BSF partners are developing many innovations that have great potential to be replicated and upscaled in other countries of the Region,” he added.

 The Workshop served as a platform to explore promising models, innovations, and governance mechanisms that support agrobiodiversity use and safeguarding across the region.

“This workshop has been an excellent example of the shared responsibility of BSF partners and the Secretariat to exchange knowledge and share lessons with actors across the region,” Toledo said, explaining that the Workshop is a first manifestation of the Benefit-sharing Fund’s (BSF) Community of Practice, following the BSF Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework.

Regional knowledge exchange and strengthening collaboration

The Workshop took place in a dynamic national and regional context: there are currently three BSF projects active in Peru, and nine more in the region. These projects offer fertile ground for experimentation and exchange on enhancing management of plant genetic resources and supporting farmers and Indigenous communities as key custodians of agrobiodiversity. With the next Governing Body session of the International Treaty set to take place in Lima in November 2025 (GB-11), the Workshop represented a timely step toward consolidating a regional ‘Community of Practice.’

The heart of the event was structured around four in-depth “labs,” each focused on an urgent theme: 'Agrobiodiversity monitoring and documentation;' 'Financial tools and schemes to support guardians of agrobiodiversity'; 'Youth engagement and value chains;' and 'Policy and governance.’ The labs consisted of poster presentations in which participants pitched their models and approaches, followed by smaller group discussions on pressing questions related to effectiveness, inclusiveness, replicability and upscaling.

“The laboratories were very interactive, and all participants engaged, made interventions and asked questions,” said Mariana Ferreyra, genebank curator at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) of Argentina, and project coordinator for a BSF-4 project. “It was important to see that we share not only the same challenges, but also the same opportunities. We should remain connected, with this important sample of people representing what is happening in the region."

From theory to practice

On the final day, participants visited the Andean experimental station of the Peruvian National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA), where they engaged directly with farmer groups from the Andean region. Groups of farmers showcased their crop diversity and explained the initiatives they are involved in, such as the establishment of agrobiodiversity zones, and the development of local value chains for commercialization of native potato varieties.  

The field day attracted a large audience and concluded with a recognition of each of the farmers’ groups for their commitment and dedication to agrobiodiversity in Peru.

A joint agenda

Findings of the workshop will be presented in a report that summarizes approaches and models, key priority areas and recommendations.

In the concluding discussion, the diversity of people in the workshop and especially the strong inclusion of youth actors, was described as important ingredient for the effectiveness of this event, and as a precondition for next steps.

“I'm so grateful for the experience and I have learned a lot. And I would like to remind you all never to forget the youth,” said Julia Mamani Condori of the AGUAPAN Youth Network, JORA. "We are not the future, we are the present and we want to safeguard biodiversity for the small children after us. Please always include us."

The report will be published on the website of the International Treaty and presented and discussed in a side event during GB-11 in Lima, Peru in November 2025.

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